Kiln Lane

research by Joan West.

Kiln Lane began as a track to village ponds. Subsequent cottages built had to give a right of way to the ponds and other land. It was recognised officially as a road in 1823 although it was not tarmacked until the 1930's

For Ian Kelloway's article in full click -3645

Dennis Claydon published a booklet called "Tarmac and Beyond". Much was known about Kiln Lane, but Dennis Claydon researched and wrote about it so brilliantly that the history of the lane written here will include extracts from his booklet leaving nothing out. A few later facts have been added.

-

Rosemary Mortham wrote the following introduction, dated February 2003 : -

The coming of the year 2000 was celebrated in Kiln Lane with the burying of a time capsule in the garden of 'Pondside'; also a most enjoyable "Millennium" Party, held in midsummer rather than New Year's Day, in the hope of enjoying good weather. We were indeed blessed by a beautiful day. Everyone was out bright and early for a shared lunch in the field next to "Highwood", which had been kindly loaned for the occasion by Dennis Claydon.

The highlight of the day was a walk down our Lane, led by Dennis. We were fascinated by the stories which he told, and amazed by the amount of information which he had amassed about one small lane. It was generally felt that this should be recorded for future generations, and after some nagging by me, Dennis agreed to give it a try.

A good deal of further research led to the production of this small book. Co-incidentally, it would appear that the area of Kiln Lane can be traced back for at least the 2000 years that brought about this production.

The story of Kiln Lane is told here with information from "Tarmac and Beyond" by Denis Claydon

Chapter 1. Grim’s Ditch

The village of Lacey Green, south-east of Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire, is situated high in the Chiltern Hills, overlooking the Vale of Aylesbury. Kiln Lane lies towards the south-eastern outskirts of the village. From its junction with Main Road, this unpretentious lane heads north-eastwards, soon leaving the confines of the village, thence curving down into a deep narrow valley and continuing eastwards, towards Speen.

Undoubtedly, the oldest feature of Kiln Lane is Grim's Ditch, an ancient earthwork, consisting of an earthen bank and ditch. The name is derived from folklore, which attributed any mysterious earthwork to the Devil, sometimes known as Grim, hence Grim's Ditch.

For the full chapter given in "Tarmac and Beyond" click Grim's Ditch.

Chapter 2. The Brick Makers of ‘Lacey's Green’

From the dim mists of pre-history, a giant leap forward in time, to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. From this period documents and maps first make reference to ‘Lacies Green’, ‘Leasey Green’ and ‘Lacey’s Green’. It is reasonable to assume therefore that the first foundations of the community were being laid at this time.

For the full chapter given in "Tarmac and Beyond" click Brick Making in Kiln Lane.

Chapter 3. The Enclosures in Princes Risborough.

Common land, in medieval times, provided rights for the peasants. These rights included the removal of wood and stones, grazing of stock and the gathering of fallen fruit. During the twelfth century, lords of the manor began to claim direct ownership of such ground. From the thirteenth century, areas were fenced off in a trend known as enclosure. This practice rapidly escalated during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The survey and valuations of 1808-1810 were probably consulted and taken into account, the proposal to seek the Enclosure of the Parish of Princes Risborough was first suggested. Following the Royal Assent to the Bill in 1820, another three years were to elapse before the matter finally become reality.

For the full chapter given in "Tarmac and Beyond", click Enclosures campaign where Dennis reports on the local uproar when this was proposed.

Chapter 4. Kiln Lane at the Enclosure. Despite the turmoil and emotional upset of the Enclosure, plus the devastating effect on certain individuals, the original document held in the County Record Office makes interesting reading. It records landownership by numbered plots, public and private roads, public footways and bridleways, and public ponds. This document provides the modern local historian with a wealth of information.

The Commissioners nominated and appointed to oversee the Enclosure were William Collisson of Brackley, Northamptonshire, Edward Horwood of Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, and Charles Smith of New Windsor, Berkshire. Their task would keep them occupied for a further three years, until the Enclosure was finally concluded on the thirteenth of March 1823.

Kiln Lane can readily be identified from the Enclosure Award Map, described as a ‘public Bridleway of the breadth of twelve feet’. It leads ‘from the new Lacey Green Road at the south-west corner of an allotment to John Grubb Esq., over the south side of the same allotment to the gate leading into High Wood, thence along the north-west side of the same wood to the Parish of Monks Risborough near Iron Beech Kiln’. This, in fact, includes part of the present day Bridleway L21, running towards Lily Bottom.

All the land bordering the northern edge of Kiln Lane was in the ownership of John Grubb. This land, apart from a small area now bounded by Main Road, Idle Corner, the Village Hall and Roundlands, extended eastwards, and northwards as far as The Windmill. It consisted of over one hundred acres, in a series of large fields, which Grubb had purchased from the Commissioners. The Windmill, at this time, was considered to be in Loosley Row.

Along the southern boundary of Kiln Lane, land was divided between two owners, Lord Cavendish and Grubb. Cavendish held one hundred and seventeen acres, comprising ‘Stockings Farm’ (Stocken Farm) in the tenancy of Ann Dell. Grubb had been successful in his claim for the Brick Kiln. He had thus been awarded ‘Plot 729°, comprising ‘Brick-kiln Cottage and Inclosures’, totalling a little over four acres. This area was termed as ‘Old Inclosures’, suggesting they had been enclosed in earlier times. ‘Brick-kiln Cottage’ was in fact ‘Malmsmead’, the only dwelling in Kiln Lane at this time.

Chapter 5. 5. Public Ponds In hilltop settlements of the Chilterns, a long-standing problem for many generations was the supply of water for cattle and domestic purposes. In long dry summers areas were prone to periods of severe drought. If a community lacked a Parish Well, the only means of supply was water collected from cottage rooftops, stored in underground tanks, or from ponds. A shortage of water at Stokenchurch in the late 1860’s, during a period of drought, caused beer to be cheaper than water!

The Enclosure, maybe recognising the problems, made provision for nine Public Ponds within the Parish, (then the Parish of Princes Risborough). One of these was in Longwick, whilst the other eight, perhaps predictably, were in Lacey Green. Loosley Row was fortunate in that it possessed a Parish Well, whilst Speen, on the other hand, seemed to manage without either, possibly being able to survive by using private ponds.

Two of these public ponds are situated in Kiln Lane. The smaller of the two lies at the western end of Kiln Lane and is known as Whitewashing Pond. It is described in the Enclosure Award as a ‘public pond or watering place... in an allotment of the said John Grubb containing eighteen perches with a road thereto of the breadth of twenty feet from the new Lacey Green Road, including the Public Bridleway No. 1’.

The second pond is situate a few metres to the north-east and is known as Deep Pit Pond. It bears a similar description in the Enclosure Award as Whitewashing, being in the “same Allotment near the Brick Kiln...containing twenty four perches’.

The fact that these ponds had a road leading to them ‘of the breath of twenty feet’ undoubtedly has some bearing on the situation today. Kiln Lane is now tarmacadamed as far as Deep Pit Pond, thereafter it is unmade and ‘unadopted’. Residents of the late nineteenth century recall a gate near Deep Pit, for which a toll was payable for passage through, thence leading into ‘Public Bridleway No 1’, as recorded by the Enclosure Award.

Whitewashing was reserved for cattle and originally there was access to the pond from Kiln Lane. Following on from the Enclosure, administration of the ponds passed to local Parish Councils, at the time of their foundation in 1894, in this case to Princes Risborough. In turn, in 1934, responsibility was transferred to the then newly formed Lacey Green Parish Council. In the 1970’s Lacey Green Parish Council sold Whitewashing to a householder in nearby Hets Orchard as additional curtilage. The access from Kiln Lane, which had originally been between ‘Macosquin’ and ‘Holly Tree Cottage’, has since been sealed off.

Brick making activities are traditionally said to have been the cause of the creation of Deep Pit. Whilst this theory is a very likely explanation, it is impossible to prove. Known as a ‘keeching pond’, Deep Pit was reserved for domestic purposes. The water was periodically limed to keep it pure. A small gangplank was erected over the surface, allowing residents to walk out and cast their buckets into the deep. To the two large families resident in the adjacent timber cottages, (now ‘Kiln Barn’) together with other villagers, this was their only source of water supply. Generations of children have been told this pond is very deep and could be exceptional dangerous if one was unfortunate enough to fall in. Despite this, it was not until the 1930’s that it was deemed necessary to erect railings along the roadside edge.

The supply of water to this pond came solely from rainfall and surface water. By a series of roadside ditches, water was drawn from as far afield as Main Road. Around the turn of the twentieth century the volume of water entering the pond caused it to break its banks and flood the dip in the road alongside. This was a source of joy to the boys of the village, who found great amusement in negotiating the flood with the aid of stilts. Modern road drainage has severely curtailed the former supply of water. Today only surface water and rainfall from the immediate area drains into the pond. It would appear most unlikely that flooding will ever again be a cause for concern. However, a considerable rise in the normal water level has been noted, due to the very heavy and prolonged periods of rain during 2000 and 2001.

About the same time as the flooding early in the twentieth century, a major crisis occurred. The Owner of ‘Gracefield’, in Main Road, purchased a car, one of the first in the village, which was garaged in the Coach House at Idle Corner. Oil, leaking from this vehicle, found its way into roadside ditches, eventually draining from Idle Corner into Deep Pit Pond, causing severe contamination.

During the summer of 1921 there was a severe drought, water being in very short supply in Lacey Green. Whitewashing was dry, in order to provide water for cattle therefore, a series of journeys, organised on a full-time daily basis, were made with a horse drawn water cart, to a source of supply in Saunderton.

Deep Pit, too, although not dry, was very low. A seventeen-year-old youth in 1921 reported entering the pond, descending down to the waters edge. A small amount of water remained in the bottom of the pond. From this position, some indication of the depth of the pond could be gauged. Looking upwards, the roofline apex of the nearby timbered cottages was just visible. Over seventy years later, during conservation work in the 1990’s, a depth was recorded of ‘under four feet’. This would suggest a certain amount of silting up has taken place during the intervening years.

In the 1920’s it was not uncommon to find moorhens and ducks on this pond. No doubt the wild ducks found some attraction in the domestic ducks, which also frequented the water, from their home in the garden opposite the pond. Then, for some inexplicit reason, over a long period of time, these birds seem to have forsaken this pond. Since the late 1990’s, however, a return of moorhens and wild ducks has been witnessed, some of which have been successful in raising their broods. The pond has seen the annual migration of frogs, being the source, over several generations, for small boys to catch tadpoles and newts. It has also provided a place of wayside refreshment for badgers and foxes on their nightly wanderings.

With the coming of mains water to the village in 1934 the usefulness of this commodity became redundant. Now under the care of Lacey Green Parish Council, Deep Pit is registered as a Parish Pond, one of only four remaining in the Parish. If they so wish, parishioners may still exercise the right to draw water from this pond!